What If?
by l0vetakesnoprisoners
Summary: What if Hankel had taken JJ instead of Reid? Title will most likely change. Probably some Reid/JJ in future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've always wondered what would've happened if it was JJ that was taken instead of Reid, so this is what came from my mind. Oh & it'll most likely have some JJ/Reid in future chapters. Who else is super excited that JJ is coming back? Woo! Maybe they'll have JJ & Reid finally get together on the show…

This is my first Criminal Minds fic, so I'm kinda nervous about how it'll go. I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. Emily would still be on the show if I did. I miss her…  
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"Mr. Hankel," the blond woman said with a smile, "FBI, I'm Agent Jareau. This is agent Reid."

"FBI?" the man asked, uncertain.  
>"Yes," Reid replied. "May we come in?"<p>

"Uh, I'm sorry," he said turning his head without cracking the door open any more. "I don't let anyone in the house."  
>"Actually," Reid insisted, "I really have to um, you know…go."<p>

"You do?" JJ asked through her teeth, careful to not disrupt her smile.  
>"For like thirty minutes," he confessed.<p>

"Why didn't you say something in the car?"  
>Reid ignored her question. "Uh, do you mind?"<p>

Tobias looked inside the house again before hesitating. "Uh, I'm-I'm sorry. My father doesn't like it very much."

"Your father?" JJ asked incredulously. "But you're like thirty."  
>"At what age does one start to disrespect the wishes of their parents?"<p>

"Sorry. Uh," JJ said, desperately trying to change the subject, "you witnessed something a few months ago that could help us."

"I did?"  
>"You saw someone go over a wall into a yard," JJ explained.<p>

"You called the police," Reid added, but Tobias never took his eyes off of JJ.  
>"Me?" He asked.<p>

"You didn't?" JJ asked, clearly confused.  
>"Sorry," Tobias apologized, even though he didn't look apologetic.<p>

"Is there another Tobias Hankel here?" Reid persisted. There was no way Hotch gave them the wrong information.

His eyes briefly glanced at Reid, but quickly darted back to JJ. "No. Just me and my father, Charles."  
>She felt an involuntary shiver as he continued to stare at her. "There's a report on file that says you called the police," JJ said trying to jog his memory. "You were walking a dog."<p>

"No, no, that's wrong," he denied, shaking his head. "I don't even have a dog."  
>"Oh," JJ's face fell briefly, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. "Well, sorry for bothering you."<p>

"Are you sure that I couldn't just quickly use the-" Reid tried once again.  
>"I'm sorry," Tobias repeated and shut the door.<p>

When JJ turned back to Reid, she recognized his expression immediately. He was lost in thought, something that wasn't uncommon for him.

They turned and walked the few steps down the porch. "He's hiding something," Reid blurted out.  
>"Well, that was definitely weird," JJ agreed. "He kept staring at me, and why did he even bother calling the police when he was just going to deny it later?"<p>

Reid looked up at her, his face full of realization. "To gage the response time!" He paused as he looked at her.

After her confused expression didn't change, Reid continued, "Think about it, JJ! If you were going to kill someone but call the police first, what would you need to know?"  
>She closed her eyes and sighed. "How long it takes them to get there."<p>

The sentence barely left her mouth and Reid had already started to move along the side of the Hankel house.

"Spence, I don't think we should do this," she called, but he ignored her as he went to look through the window. She stayed where she was until she heard him call her.

"JJ, he's our UnSub," Reid whispered urgently, signaling for her to come to him.  
>"What?"<p>

"Tobias Hankel, he's our UnSub," he repeated as they heard the barn door slam shut. "He's in the barn. Come on!"

They both took off in the direction on the barn, drawing their weapons. They stopped before entering. "He's in here," Reid said.

"Are you sure?" JJ asked. She had no reason to doubt him, she just felt uncomfortable going into the barn.  
>"Yeah," he confirmed distractedly. "I think his father's helping him. Call Hotch."<p>

"We're in the middle of nowhere," she replied with just a bit of an attitude. "There's no service."  
>"Of course we have no service," he mumbled to himself. "Okay, he's definitely in there. You go around front and I'll go through the back. Hotch knows where we are. He'll come looking for us. We'll just wait him out," Spencer explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.<p>

"No, no, no, Reid. Are you sure we should-?" JJ began to protest, but Reid ignored her and began to round the barn. "—Split up?" she finished to herself with a sigh.

She rolled her eyes, but stood up to her full height with her gun drawn nonetheless. She stood in the silence waiting for some kind of sign from Reid.

"JJ," she heard him call quietly. "He's back here," Reid whispered.

She, however, couldn't hear the last part and simply replied, "What?" She didn't know that he quietly took off after Tobias.

Before she had time to go around to check on him, the barn door flew open. She didn't know if it was the UnSub or the wind that caused it, so she decided that she should check.

JJ hesitated around the front of the barn. Reid was so sure about this, but as soon as she approached the opened barn door, she felt an ominous presence overwhelm her.

Taking a hesitant step forward, she flashed the light around the room. As she continued in, she stepped in something. She pointed the flashlight down and saw a pool of blood around her foot with a small strand of pearls. She gulped and shined the flashlight around the room.

She gasped in horror when he saw a mattress lying on the floor covered in blood and bits of chewed flesh.

Unbeknownst to her, Reid was out in the cornfield, following the UnSub. He paused when he no longer heard the rustling, but the sound of voices, two voices, arguing about his and JJ's presence.

"Why you runnin' from those devils, boy?" he heard a deep voice ask.  
>"They're the FBI," came Tobias' nervous reply.<p>

"They're devils!" the deep voice shouted. "You're doin' the Lord's work. There's nothin' to be afraid of!"  
>"I don't want to do this anymore," Tobias protested.<p>

"You're doin' the Lord's work, boy!" the unknown man punctuated the word "boy" with a slap. Tobias whimpered, and the man hit him again. "Don't disrespect me, boy."

"I'm sorry," Tobias pleaded, but the man hit him again.  
>"You ain't got no choices when the Lord calls you to do his work."<p>

"I'm sorry," Tobias repeated his voice low and shaky.

He stood still listening to the deep-voiced man continue to beat Tobias, but JJ was still looking around inside the barn.  
>She took a few steps toward the mattress, but stopped as soon as she heard a low growling.<p>

"Reid," she whispered, turning quickly, she flashed her flashlight at a dark dog that was previously hidden in the shadows. Hearing more growls, she turned two more times revealing two more growling dogs. Each of the three had blood around their snouts.

The dogs began to charge her, and she yelled in surprise, "SPENCE!"

Reid heard gunshots and began to run back to the barn. He'd just made it to the end of the field and yelled "JJ!" before a hand struck him across the face and knocked him to the ground.

He looked up and saw Tobias Hankel standing over top of him with his own gun pointed at him. "I could have stopped him by myself!" Tobias insisted as Reid began to crawl backward on the ground.

"Okay, okay," he said breathlessly as he continued to move away from Tobias.  
>"No! No! You should have never come! I could have stopped him! I tried to warn everyone!"<p>

"Mr. Hankel, please, just relax," Reid pleaded as he glanced toward the barn. After he heard the gunshots, there wasn't another sound from the barn.

Suddenly Tobias' face stiffened and his nervous demeanor changed to a rigid and angry one.  
>"Shoot him!" the deep voice he heard in the field bellowed from Tobias' mouth. Reid's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what was going on.<p>

"I don't want to," Tobias' regular shaky voice returned.  
>Tobias again changed into the stiff, deep voiced man. "I said shoot him, you weakling. He's a Satan!"<p>

"He didn't do anything," Tobias' reply came as he clearly fought again the commands of the nonexistent man.

Reid's eyes widened as he realized what was happening and Tobias once again went rigid.  
>"I won't tell you another time, boy! Shoot him!"<p>

The quivering man clenched his eyes shut, trying to fight the voice commanding him to do what he knew was wrong.

Another agonizing moment later, his eyes snapped open and Reid could easily tell that the man had changed again.

"I always knew you were too weak," the deep voice snarled as he looked Reid directly in the eyes.  
>Reid opened his mouth to plead, but stopped when the gun in Tobias' hand went off.<p>

Tobias put Reid's gun in his pocket. He shook his head and grimaced as he glanced at the young profiler lying on the ground. His breathing became shaky as he once again returned to the nervous young man and took off toward the barn.

-Break-

"He's an FBI agent," JJ faintly heard the UnSub's voice worrying as he entered through the front of the barn.

"He's an FBI agent," he repeated as he paced around the small open area of the barn, unaffected by the blood.

JJ fought to keep her eyes open and focus on the man pacing in front of her. 'Spence,' she thought to herself. What happened to him? She heard two voices arguing and then a gunshot. She had to find a way to him, but one of the dogs had knocked her to the ground before she shot it, and her head had hit something rather hard.

"There were two of them!" a deep voice bellowed, interrupting her musings. She opened her eyes as wide as she could and looked for the second UnSub, whom the voice had to belong to.

She quickly surveyed the room, but couldn't find another person. Her eyes trailed back to the first UnSub, hoping to gather something from him.

His eyes were on the ground and his face was suddenly stern. Something wasn't right.

"FIND THE WOMAN!" the deep voice yelled. JJ blinked. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She hit her head hard, but she didn't think it was hard enough to cause her to not see another person.

Tobias became nervous and started to walk farther in the barn. JJ watched as he approached her general area.

He leaned down and picked something up. When he stood, JJ saw that it was her flashlight. She didn't know that she dropped it.

Tobias turned it on, and looked around the barn quickly. He stopped when he saw one of the dogs lying dead on the ground. He approached it and then turned his back to JJ when he saw another not that far from it.

JJ knew that it was only a matter of time before he found her, and thinking that she would have the element of surprise with his back turned, she tried her hardest to quickly and quietly move from the small, shrouded area that she was lying in.

She stood up and suddenly felt light headed. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her head.

Her eyes snapped open as soon as she heard movement, but she was too late. Tobias pistol whipping her with a gun she didn't know he had was the last thing she felt before unconsciousness overtook her.

-Break-

Prentiss watched Reid being loaded into the ambulance on the stretcher when Morgan walked up to her.

"He okay?"  
>Emily sighed. "Hopefully."<p>

Morgan nodded. "There's no sign of her here, but the sheriff has all of his units looking for them on the road."

"They checked everywhere in the house?" Prentiss asked.  
>"Every nook and cranny, even in the barn," he sighed. "It looks like someone was dragged from it."<p>

Prentiss' eyes widened and Morgan shook his head. "I'm going to check with Hotch and Gideon. Can you call Garcia? Hotch wants to bring her out here to check out his computer."

She nodded and Morgan walked back toward the house.

Emily took out her phone to dial Garcia. She figured that she'd have to break the news to eccentric tech, but it didn't make her any less anxious.

She punched in the first few numbers and gave one last glace to Reid's still form before the ambulance door shut. The EMT who shut the door was walking toward the front of the ambulance, but Emily stopped her before she entered the vehicle.

"Take care of him, okay," Emily requested and the EMT nodded.  
>"We'll do the best we can, Agent Prentiss."<p>

-End—

So, that was only the beginning. How was it? Not too bad I hope. Tell me what you think, tell me that you're excited for JJ to be back, tell me that you want Emily back, or even tell me that you hate Seaver or something, but please review. (: Thanks for reading!

Oh & this was unBeta'd. If anyone wants to Beta for me, I'd be grateful.

-L0vetakesnoprisoners


	2. Chapter 2

Gaaaaah! I'm so so so so so sorry that it took me this long to update! Next time feel free to pm me or review & yell at me. I hoped you enjoy this chapter. Oh yeah, let me know if you want something to happen; I'm open to any & all suggestions, including title changes, 'cause this one is kinda lame!

JJ's heavy eyelids fluttered as she fought to keep them open once again. From the tiny glimpses she caught, she was in a small musty room with an even smaller room attached. It was made of dilapidated old wood and had a small fire in an old-looking stove. It also stunk unbearably and there was some old spare wood by the door.

Finally, she won the struggle to keep her eyes open for more than a few seconds and looked around for her abductor, but he was nowhere to be found.

Her eyes closed against her will once again, and she could feel liquid on her forehead, which was undoubtedly blood. Trying to wipe it, she realized that her arms were handcuffed together and chained to the chair that she was sitting in. How she managed to miss that in the first place, she'll never know. Her arm that was hurt by the dogs had a ripped piece of cloth wrapped around it in a poor attempt to bandage it.

Noticing that her feet weren't chained, she tried to stand, but only managed to knock herself onto the floor. "Damn it!" she screamed. "Damn!" She struggled to free her hands, ignoring the pain that emanated from her wrists as the cuffs cut into them.

After a few minutes of struggling on the floor, she heard the door creak open. Her eyes immediately darted to the man who opened the door. Tobias Hankel.

His face was stern and he glared at JJ on the floor. "You tryin' to escape without your confession and penance?"

JJ ignored him as she continued to struggle with her bonded hands. He went into the attached room, and put whatever he was carrying onto a desk.

When he came back into the room, his face was stoic.

"You have tried to avoid your penance," his voice came out monotone. He pulled out a pistol, and held one bullet so that JJ could see it. "Do you know what this is?" he asked as he opened the gun and inserted it into the cylinder.

"This is God's will," he said as he spun the cylinder and pointed it at JJ.  
>"No, please, Mr. Hankel, don't!"<p>

Tobias cocked his head to the side and lowered the gun slightly. "They left."  
>"Wh-who left?"<p>

"It's only me. Raphael."

JJ swallowed a lump in her throat. Raphael, as in the Raphael referred to during the 911 calls? He pointed the gun at JJ again and she fought the tears that welled up.

He shot the gun, but thankfully it fired a blank. JJ let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding in.

Raphael then put the gun in his pocket, walked back into the small room that he deposited whatever it is that he brought with him, and shut the door.

JJ laid her head on the floor and allowed the darkness to come and take her.

-Break—

The next day, the BAU team was sitting in Tobias Hankel's house when Hotch brought Garcia in. "Why are we here in this super creepy house? Don't you know that there are hotels in Georgia?"

"Well, where's the best place to learn about an UnSub beside their own house?" Prentiss asked from a seat at the table.

"Hmm," Garcia acknowledged. "I guess you're right."  
>"Garcia," Gideon called as he walked in from an adjacent room. "I need you to look at his computer. Look for anything that could help find JJ, or anything remotely connected to this case."<p>

"You got it, Boss man," Garcia replied as Morgan lead her into the room Gideon had just vacated.

Only roughly twenty minutes passed before Garcia told Morgan her findings. "There is nothing on here. He's self-taught, but his system is pretty brilliant. There's nothing but sports, videogames, and a variety of software. If I didn't know better, I'd say this is a computer of a pretty bright high school kid."

"But," Morgan interjected. "He would need constant reassurance, violent images, religious manifesto, anything like that. What about the mpegs for the murder footage?"

"It's not there," Garcia insisted. "I've checked five times. The only thing that's there is 24 hour webcam feed all bookmarked under a different heading: adulterer, liar, thief…"  
>Morgan sighed annoyed and started to leave, but Penelope called him back.<p>

"How's Reid doing?" she asked.  
>"I'm not sure, baby girl."<p>

"What?"  
>Morgan sighed. "No one's been to the hospital yet; we're all looking for JJ."<p>

"You mean that he's all alone at the hospital right now? Someone needs to be with him!"  
>"Baby girl, while we're all concerned about Reid, right now we need to find JJ. She's top priority."<p>

"But we can't all abandon Reid!" Morgan only hung his head, and Penelope scoffed. "Derek Morgan, what is wrong with you?"

"JJ has to be our main priority," he insisted, still not meeting Garcia's stare. "Reid is in a hospital where he's safe. Who knows what this guy's doing to JJ?"  
>Garcia flinched thinking about what could be happening to her friend, and opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Emily.<p>

"Guys, the sheriff just came. He said that someone fitting Hankel's description broke into an electronics store last night."

"What was taken?" Morgan asked, standing up.  
>"An external hard drive, a couple of laptops, and a satellite."<p>

"You think he's gonna continue killing?"

Emily shrugged in response, but Garcia's eyes filled with hope. "Was there any sight of JJ?"  
>"No," Emily sighed, "just Hankel."<p>

Penelope, ever the optimist, tried a smile, but it was more of a grimace. "At least it's something, right?"

-Break—

When she opened her eyes, JJ saw Tobias standing in the doorway with a pile of logs. He looked at her on the floor and gasped.

After quickly depositing the firewood next to the stove, Tobias set JJ and her chair upright.

"I'm sorry," Tobias' voice was soft and shaky again. He rubbed his hands against his face and through his hair. "My father…he's strict. I'm sorry."

"Tobias?" she questioned, recognizing the anxiety and desperate understanding on his face.  
>He met her eyes. "Yes. I'm so sorry."<p>

"Your father was the one in here before?"  
>He slowly shook his head yes. "I'm trying… Here," he said tightening her upper arm with a belt. "This will help," he continued as he pulled out a syringe and a small glass container of liquid.<p>

"No, please," JJ said with a head shake. "It's fine, really."  
>Instead of stopping, he began to fill the syringe with the liquid. "It will make it easier."<p>

JJ tried to yank her arm away, but his grip was strong and her arm was still bound. "No, please, Tobias! I'm fine! I can deal with it! Please!"  
>That time, he stopped, and then emptied the syringe into the glass container. "I was only trying to help," he said as he put the syringe and container away.<p>

"Wait, wait, Tobias. Why don't you just let me go? Your father won't have to know. You could come with me."

He stood from his position next to JJ, walked over to the stove, and began to put some wood in the fire. "No, no, I can't," he said shaking his head. "He always finds me."

"Your father won't know until we're long gone. He can't hurt you then."  
>"No! He's-he's my father. I—I can't… He…" Tobias said, obviously struggling with himself.<p>

"He what?" JJ asked, staring at the man in front of her. "Tobias?"  
>His face once again turned angry and stern. "You tryin' to convince my boy to let you go without your penance?" He yelled as he again walked into the tiny adjacent room, but this time he returned with a camera on a tripod.<p>

"What are you doing?" JJ asked urgently as she struggled with her bondage and winced as her poorly bandaged arm throbbed with pain.

Tobias/Charles walked toward the small stove and lit the end of a stick on fire. On his way back over to JJ he made sure that the camera was facing them.

"Mr. Hankel, please! Stop!" JJ cried, but he continued to come closer.  
>"The sinners must be warned what will happen to them if they disobey the Lord! Now, CONFESS!" he roared as he rolled up her sleeve.<p>

"Mr. Hankel, please, think about what you're doing," JJ pleaded frantically. However, it wasn't what Tobias/Charles wanted to hear, so he shoved the lit end of the stick onto JJ's un-bandaged arm.

She quickly turned her head and let out a cry.

-Break—

"Oh, my god! NO!" Garcia shouted as the horrible image filled the computer screen.  
>Morgan was the first one in the room with her. "What?" he yelled in panic.<p>

Penelope didn't answer, but only stared at the image on the screen, unable to tear her eyes away from the horrific sight.

Hotch and Gideon maneuvered around Morgan and went to either side of Garcia. They took one look at it and turned away.

"Garcia, where did you get this?" Hotch asked, urgency in his usually monotone voice.  
>She swallowed. "He, uh... that son of a bitch sent it to the computer!" she yelled, panic and anger settling into her tone.<p>

"Is this streaming live?" Prentiss spoke up for the first time since entering the room.

Garcia hit a few buttons on the keyboard and opened up a few screens within a few seconds. "Yeah," she said with a nod. "Oh, my god…poor Jayje."

"Can you trace it?" Gideon asked, still watching as Tobias Hankel burned their liaison's arm once again.  
>"No, it's being rerouted to a new IP address every thirty seconds-"<p>

Just as Garcia was about to say something else, Tobias/Charles threw the wood to the floor and stepped on it, extinguishing it. He turned to face the camera, allowing the group of agents to see their blond friend sitting with her head hung, biting hard on her bottom lip. "Do you see what will happen if the world does not repent? This is the Lord's work and it must be done!"

He glared into the camera for only a moment before it switched off. The four profilers and tech analyst stood dumbfounded. Penelope recovered first.

"Did…did you…her arm…?" she barely whispered.  
>Morgan let out a frustrated growl.<p>

"We all knew she was probably hurt… at least she's alive," Prentiss said with a grimace and shrug.  
>"Yeah, well suspecting and seeing it are two different things," Morgan argued, shaking his head, and beginning to pace.<p>

Gideon breathed deeply and slowly shook his head. "Okay, okay. We need to calm down a bit and get refocused on the case," he said glancing at the team members in the room. "We need to try and see the case objectively, as if it's not JJ being held."

"How can we not act as if it's JJ!" Penelope shouted, turning on him. "She is the one there! She is the one suffering!"

"Garcia," Hotch called. "Why don't you stay in here, watch the monitors, and call the hospital to check on Reid?"

Garcia took a few calming breaths, before apologizing. "I'm sorry. I just…"  
>Gideon nodded his acceptance. "It's fine. Everyone's on edge. We're gonna try to find some more about Hankel; you find out about Reid."<p>

Garcia nodded as the team filed out.

-End—

Thanks to kdzl, Everleigh, mystery-3675, TOL Love, Bandaged007, EmmaBerlin, keelzz64, Swifty1212, Cribellate, pixie34, crazyobsession101, foxyfeline, KWD, MelxxWhoLuvsYa, & spk for reviewing!

Sorry again. Forgive me? (:

-l0vetakesnoprisoners


	3. Chapter 3

Ugh, I really tried to update this on time, but I tried like seven times and it didn't work. I was going to write more afterward, but then I was annoyed. So, in reality, I did nothing productive yesterday. Stupid uploading errors.

Oh, and you can't hate me too much at the end of this chapter, 'kay? (: Enjoy.

"Garcia?" Reid's groggy voice came over the phone and Garcia sighed audibly, relieved.  
>"Hey, Boy Wonder," Garcia replied, her voice soft. "How are you feeling?"<p>

"I'm, I'm good," Reid semi-lied. "What about," he swallowed tiredly. "What about JJ? How is she?"

Garcia sucked in a breath. She'd forgotten that he was unaware of what happened to JJ.  
>"She, uh, is missing. Tobias Hankel took her."<p>

"What? She's missing? How?"  
>"Well, when they came here and found you, she was already gone. What happened when you were out there?"<p>

"She's been missing for that long?" he questioned and she could hear rustling in the background as he attempted to get up. "Garcia, that's at least twelve hours! I have to come there! I have to help!"  
>"Reid, you were shot. You need to relax," Garcia replied as she typed something into the Hankels' computer. "I know that it's hard not to have JJ here, but the team's doing the best they can to find her, which we're sorry for not being there, by the way-"<p>

"-I understand completely—"  
>"You're not going to be any help if you're hurt. Stay at the hospital, get rest, and come back when you're ready and we'll have JJ back in no time."<p>

"I really think I should be there, Garcia. I mean I was with JJ when it happened. I could provide information—"

"Junior G Man, you were with her, but you need to get better. Tell me everything that happened and I'll be sure to tell the team everything you say."

Reid sighed, but relented. "Okay, but as soon as I'm allowed to leave. I'll be there."  
>"Hopefully, we'll have JJ back by then. Now, tell me what happened."<p>

"Well, JJ and I thought Tobias Hankel was just a witness…"

-Break—

JJ blinked her eyes hard as she tried to fight off sleep. She began to struggle with the handcuffs again, but it didn't do any good.

She hadn't seen Hankel since he left after he burned her, and his time away had left her alone with her thoughts about Spencer.

What had happened to him? All she could remember was hearing arguing and the gun shot after the dogs attacked her.

Not to mention, Tobias walked into the barn alone, with a gun–probably Spence's—and he had blood on his face and hands. It was only a small amount from what she could tell, but any amount was cause for alarm. The blood on his face was probably his anyway. It looked like he'd been in a fight, probably with Spencer.

Had the team gotten there in time? Was–oh god—was Reid even still alive?

Tears welled in her eyes at that last thought, but she didn't have to think about it much before Tobias Hankel reentered the room.

Seeing him enter, she looked at his demeanor. She might not have been a profiler, but anyone could see the shifts in his behavior. Judging by the stiff way he walked and his angry expression, JJ guessed that this had to be Charles/Tobias.

He was carrying a limp lamb slung over his back. She wondered what he was going to do with it.

Tobias/Charles noticed her staring at it as he placed it on the old, wooden shelf that was large enough to be a small table. "You need to eat," he said simply, but firmly.

She cringed. She only had lamb one time before, and she didn't even like it then. She couldn't imagine what it would taste like now.

JJ swallowed and closed her eyes. "So, you're going to feed me? I thought you were going to kill me." She didn't think it was a good idea to antagonize him, but she was angry. Angry because he was keeping her here, angry that she couldn't escape, angry that she'd allowed herself to get taken in the first place, angry because she had no idea who she would be dealing with every other five minutes. And if she wasn't angry, she would begin to feel sorry for herself, and she couldn't let that happen, not when there was still hope.

He slammed his fist on to the shelf and it shook. She flinched. "You don't wanna eat? Fine, I'll get you to confess. Then, I'll decide what to do with you."

JJ clenched her mouth shut, steeling herself for what was going to happen.

She expected him to light another stick and burn her again, but instead, he bent down to take her boot off of her foot. She struggled against his grip, but he won and roughly pulled the boot off of her foot.

He took the belt that Tobias had previously used to try to inject the drugs into JJ's system, and pulled back his arm.

"Confess," he growled.  
>She fixed a steely glare at him. "I have nothing to confess."<p>

"We're all sinners, girl!" he roared as he hit JJ's foot with the belt. She bit down hard on her lip as she willed the tears away. She would not let him see her cry.

-Break—

Nothing on Tobias' computer suggested that Tobias was anyone but him.

But Reid saw him switch personalities right in front of him. Reid had an eidetic memory.

And Reid was never wrong.

So Penelope Garcia was typing on the keyboard furiously, trying to find anything from the information that Reid had given her, but her search had yet to yield anything.

And that's when it hit her.

Could Tobias Hankel be using his father's personality? There was nothing to suggest that Charles Hankel was dead, but he hadn't turned up anywhere. The team thought that he was the other person from the recordings, but what Reid knew changed everything. Maybe it was all Tobias, and his father was just inside his head?

"Why didn't I think of this before," she muttered to herself. Quickly signing off of Tobias' account, Garcia tried logging in as Charles Hankel.

And to her surprise it worked. Soon the screens in front of her were filled with bombings, riots, and fires.

"Oh…Guys! Get in here!" she yelled as she continued digging into the computer.

She heard the sound of feet pounding against the floor as they came running to the room where Penelope was. When the door opened, only Hotch and Derek came into the room, both with confused expressions on their faces.

"What, Garcia?" Hotch asked as he and Morgan came closer to the tech.  
>"I found something," Penelope replied as the two men saw the screen.<p>

"Oh," Morgan said lamely, and then shook his head. "How did you find this? I thought we went through Tobias' entire comp-"  
>"See, that's the thing, I went through Tobias' entire computer and didn't find anything. So, when I was talking to Reid he told me that when Tobias Hankel ambushed him, he was alone, and he was talking in two different voices, and had two different demeanors entirely. He said that he thought Tobias might have multiple personality disorder and I tried to find something on his computer that might link another personality to him, but there was none. So then, I started thinking, what about his dad? I mean, we've had no sign of him really. I logged into the computer as Charles Hankel, and it worked."<p>

As soon as Garcia finished her explanation, Hotch took out his phone. "If Tobias is using his father's personality, and nobody's heard from Charles Hankel, that suggests that he's dead." Hotch clicked a few buttons on his phone. "Jason, Hankel has multiple personalities…" he trailed off as he exited the room.

Garcia turned to Morgan. "Good work, Baby Girl."  
>She smiled. "Where are Gideon and Emily?"<p>

"They went to interview Tobias' sponsor from when he was in NA. They were thinking that he might help somehow."

Garcia nodded as Hotch came back into the room, and pocketed his phone.  
>"There's no record of Charles Hankel's death."<p>

-Break—

JJ shifted in the uncomfortable chair once again, trying to get her foot off of the ground. After about the fifteenth time he hit her foot, it started to bleed.

She could taste the blood in her mouth from biting down on her lip so hard. She wouldn't scream. She promised herself that she wouldn't.

A sound came from the adjacent room and she snapped her head toward the shut door.

Hankel had once again disappeared into the small room. She had no idea how long he'd been in there or when he'd finally come out, but she hoped whatever he was doing would take a while.

Her hopes were crushed as Tobias came into the room. She could tell by his facial expression that it was still Tobias/Charles.

His eyes were scrutinizing, but not as angry as he was before. She took that as a good sign.

"Do you want to serve the Lord, girl?" Tobias/Charles asked suddenly breaking the tense silence.  
>"I, uh…" her hoarse voice hesitated. What would happen if she agreed? If she disagreed?<p>

He walked closer to her and grabbed a handful of her hair. She yelped in surprise.  
>"I said, do you want to serve the Lord?" TobiasCharles repeated, his face merely inches from JJ's.

She swallowed, but nodded her head yes.

"Good," Tobias/Charles said as he released her hair and stepped away from her. "You might not be a complete waste."

He grabbed something and turned from her vision, toward the little stove.  
>"How," she paused to clear her throat. "How do you want me to help?" she asked, hearing the vulnerability in her voice and hating it.<p>

"You ain't servin' the Lord yet. You ain't sealed, but I'll fix it."  
>JJ furrowed her brow as she thought about what he meant.<p>

Her eyes widened as he turned back to her with a red-glowing rod in his hand.

"We can't serve the Lord 'til we're sealed with his mark. Sealed on our foreheads."

-Break—

Garcia and Emily sat slumped around the computers in Hankel's house. It had been a long day, and even though they had a huge breakthrough thanks to Reid and Garcia, they had run out of ideas.

They were also running out of energy, but they wouldn't give up. They couldn't give up. This was JJ. They needed to find her.

"Guys, I found something!" Morgan yelled as he pulled open a storm cellar door. He drew his gun, and shouted "Tobias Hankel, FBI!" as the rest of his team surrounded him.

Slowly, he descended the stairs and walked into a dark room. He pulled out his flashlight and saw Charles Hankel's dead body set upright in a chilled room.

"Oh," Emily said, scrunching her nose when she saw Charles' body.

"Guys! Guys!" They heard Penelope shouting from the room Emily had just vacated. Hotch and Gideon exchanged a look.

"Prentiss and Morgan go to Garcia. Jason and I will handle this," he said nodding to the body.

Derek and Emily nodded their agreement before rushing off to Penelope. As soon as they entered the room, they understood why she called them.

They both took a look at the screen and saw the new video of JJ being streamed to the computer. They could easily see the cross emblazed onto her forehead.

"Hotch! Gideon! I think you better get in here!"

-Break—

"I'm not gonna choose," JJ's voice came out scratchy when she spoke.  
>"They say you can see inside men's minds. You can choose," TobiasRaphael's monotone voice said.

"But, I can't see inside men's minds. I'm not even a profiler! I'm a liaison!" she shouted, venting her frustration.

Still, Tobias/Raphael persisted. "Choose one to die and I'll say the address of one to be saved. The other heathens will make sure the other stays alive."

JJ shook her head slowly, desperately trying to buy some time.  
>"You were sealed by the Lord," TobiasRaphael stated, gesturing to her forehead. "You said you would do the Lord's will." He paused as he pulled the revolver from his pocket and pointed it at JJ again.

"It's either you or one of them."

JJ swallowed hard. She didn't want to die, but could she allow someone else to die because of her?  
>"I'll…I'll choose who lives," she compromised.<p>

Tobias/Raphael nodded. "I'm not concerned with the matters of men. They are all the same."

JJ glanced at the screens. How could she pick which person to save knowing that another would die because of her choice?

She shut her eyes tightly and turned her head away. "The one… the one on the far right, the last one," she said through clenched teeth.

"252 Howard Lane," Tobias/Raphael said swiftly. He left immediately.

Only when JJ was sure she was all alone did she allow herself to cry.

-Break—

As soon as the address left his mouth, the team was in motion. Garcia pulled up the phone number and Morgan called the house to tell the people that lived there.

Gideon, Emily, and Hotch followed him out of the room, preparing to receive the call from Hankel telling them where he was about to murder.

Garcia was left alone in the small room watching the monitor. Hankel hadn't shut off the camera.

Her heart broke as she watched her best friend cry. She knew that she couldn't do anything right now, but as soon as they had her angelfish back, JJ was going nowhere without her for a long time.

-Break—

JJ sat in the tiny shack. She had long since stopped crying before Hankel had returned.

He left the door to the small room open and she had seen him upload the murder he'd just committed.

She saw him watch it repeatedly. She also saw when a big red flashing box appeared on the screen warning that the video was a virus.

He stood quickly and angrily, knocking the chair to the floor in his effort to turn to JJ.

"They're tryin' to stop my message!" he yelled as he stormed closer to her.

Her only reply was to stare at him, which made him angrier. He brought his hand to her face and punched her.

"Your sealed with the Lord's mark and you're helpin' those satans!" He hit her again, and again. All the while, the camera was still on, streaming the video back to his house.

He continued his assault on JJ, never allowing her to try and defend herself, until he got so angry that he pushed her chair to the floor.

Her head made a loud thud when she fell with the chair. Hankel yelled at her, but her body laid motionless on the floor.

-Break—

The team of profilers sat watching the scene unfold on the computer screens, feeling helpless.  
>"Jayje," Garcia squeaked.<p>

Morgan stood and began to pace around the room until he couldn't take it anymore and punched the door.

-Break—

JJ lay on the floor unconscious. Her mind drifted back to when she was a teenager.

_JJ was getting ready to go out for the night with her friends. Her father repeatedly asked her not to go, slurring drunkenly as the words came out. _

"_Dad!" JJ yelled. "GET OVER IT! You need to move on! I can't take this anymore!" JJ exclaimed as she slammed the door and stormed out, ignoring her father's slurred protests. _

Her body twitched on the floor. Of course she hadn't meant what she said to her father then, but she was only a teenager. She regretted it more than anything now. It was the last thing she'd ever said to her dad.

_JJ came home that night to find her father's car gone, but the house was still somewhat lit. _

_She entered the living room and saw her older brother, Matt, and her Aunt Elizabeth sitting in on the couch. Both of them had tear tracks on their cheeks, and her aunt's eyes were red and puffy. _

"_Aunt Liz? Matt? What's going on?"  
>"JJ," Matt said as he swallowed hard. "Dad…" <em>

_JJ began to get even more worried. "What? Where's Dad?"  
>"JJ, he," her aunt paused. "Your father died in a car accident." <em>

_JJ shook her head. "What? No. No. He didn't even want to leave the house earlier. He was drunk; he knew…he wouldn't… No," JJ stated resolutely, shaking her head. "He didn't die in a car accident." _

"_Jayje," Matt spoke up again, wiping at some stray tears. "He felt bad for making you upset. He wanted to…he…" he trailed off, unable to finish. _

_JJ shook her head once more, but began to cry. _

"I'm sorry," JJ whispered from her place on the floor. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"  
>"What are you sorry for?" TobiasCharles stern voice broke through JJ's thoughts, pulling her from unconsciousness.

"My dad," she whispered, tears brimming her eyes as she opened them. "I yelled at my dad before he died. It was my fault…He…"

She fully looked at Tobias/Charles. His mouth was pressed in a hard line. "For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death," Tobias/Charles quoted Leviticus 20: 9.

-Break—

The team watched in horror as Tobias/Charles condemned JJ to death.

He roughly pulled her chair up, and undid her handcuffs. She didn't fight as he forced her to walk.

It seemed to the team that JJ had given up, until she and Hankel walked to the door. She stopped, opened the door, and then picked up a piece of wood that was discarded against the wall near the door.

Quicker than anyone had ever seen her move before, JJ turned and hit Hankel in the head with the wood. She stumbled for a minute near him, but then took off as fast as her bruised and bloody feet would allow.

Garcia was practically dancing with joy, until they saw Hankel pull himself off of the ground and follow JJ out of their sight.

They heard JJ scream, a couple of grunts and shrieks, and then… a gunshot. One single gunshot.

And all they could do was hope.

-End—

Ahh, I know I'm evil. Review? (:


	4. Chapter 4

The team's reactions were all different.

Morgan stood up and hit the door again, and again, and again, until he gave up and started pacing the small open area, muttering angrily to himself as he stared at the floor.

Hotch immediately sprung into action. He pulled out his phone and called the sheriff to organize search parties. He didn't care if they had to search the whole state of Georgia, they would find JJ.

Emily turned her head from the screen, trying to somehow compartmentalize this. She kept telling herself that JJ was fine, that Hankel missed. But if that happened, then why didn't anyone come back into the shack?

Gideon closed his eyes hand shook his head. This wasn't right. Things like this weren't supposed to happen to his team. How could they be expected to come back from this?

Garcia sat in her seat, her mouth forming an o shape. She refused to remove her eyes from the screen. Her cupcake had to be okay. She just had to. All of her crime fighters would make it through this case. Even as she tried to keep these positive thoughts, tears began to form in her unblinking eyes.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Morgan asked heatedly, as he continued to pace the room. "We have no idea where they are, and he just shot her!"

"Morgan," Hotch tried to calm him, noticing Garcia's tears.  
>"No, Hotch! We need to find her, and we need to find her pretty damn quick since he shot her!"<p>

The tears were flowing down Garcia's cheeks freely now. "Morgan," Hotch reprimanded again, but this time Morgan stopped yelling and turned to walk out of the room.

He stopped as soon as he saw a figure in the other room. "Reid?" he asked, squinting his eyes to make sure that it was really him. The four heads in the other room snapped up at the mention of the genius' name.

Reid nodded. "What have you found out?" Reid asked as he looked at the books strewn about the table.

"Reid, what are you doing here?" Hotch asked as he left the smaller room. The rest of the team, except Garcia, followed him. "You couldn't have been cleared yet."

Reid shook his head and grimaced slightly from the pain that shot through his body at the small movement. "They cleared me an hour ago. I would've been here faster, but I had to sign papers and they made someone drive me out here."

Garcia finally poked her head in from the door. "Reid!" she exclaimed, taking in the sight of the injured profiler. His eyes were bloodshot and his left arm was in a sling. He also looked pale.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she approached him and carefully hugged his uninjured side.

He smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. What did you find out about JJ and H—" he stopped when Garcia pulled away from the hug and he saw her tear-stained face. His smile dropped immediately.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"Reid, were you really discharged and cleared?" Hotch intervened before anyone could stress the already hurt profiler.

"I had surgery yesterday. The bullet was only in my shoulder. I'll be fine."  
>"You had surgery yesterday…and they discharged you today?" Prentiss asked skeptically.<p>

"I was discharged," Reid muttered, "AMA."  
>"AMA?" Morgan yelled. "Why would you leave against medical advice? Reid, you have to go back."<p>

Reid shook his head. "No, I'm here now. I'm going to help look for JJ—"  
>"Reid, you know that I can't let you work this case if you're not cleared to do so," Hotch pointed out.<p>

Spencer planted his feet and put his right arm across his chest. He looked like he was about to actually fight them. He shook his head.

"I am cleared, Hotch." He countered, challengingly. "They wouldn't have let me leave if I wasn't."  
>"Spencer," Gideon spoke up for the first time. "You can work the case, if and only if, you never leave this house, and you're never alone."<p>

"And," Garcia added, "if you feel any pain at all, relax and let someone know. Please."  
>Spence nodded toward Penelope.<p>

"You have to swear," Penelope insisted and despite the graveness of the situation, Spencer smiled.  
>"I swear."<p>

-Break—

Morgan, Hotch, and Gideon went out with the search parties. Emily and Reid stayed at the house and went through Hankel's journals, while Garcia continued to search the computer.

They hadn't found anything and they'd been searching for hours, until Emily caught something in his journals.

"Garcia, I need you to check a location for me," Emily said as she walked into the small room.

"Garcia?" Emily asked as she put her hand on Penelope's shoulder. The tech jumped.

"Whoa, sorry, Garcia. I didn't mean to scare you, but I need you to check on a possible location for me."  
>Penelope nodded. "Sure, anything," she said as she clicked away from the video feed from wherever JJ and Hankel had been. Nothing had changed.<p>

"Where exactly do you have in mind?"  
>"Somewhere called Marshall. He mentioned staying clean and away from Marshall. I think Morgan was right that it'd be somewhere Tobias picked, not Charles."<p>

Garcia nodded again as she hit some keys. A map appeared and zeroed in on a patch of land called Marshall Parish.

"Reid," Emily called. "Can you call Hotch and tell him-"  
>"Already on it," Spencer responded as he entered the room to meet the two women. He had his phone to his ear.<p>

"Hotch, we found a possible location. Marshall Parish."

Emily signaled that she was leaving to meet them. "Stay with him, Garcia." Garcia nodded.

"Emily's on her way," Reid told Hotch. "Marshall Parish is…"

-Break-

As soon as the SUV stopped, Hotch, Gideon, Morgan, and Prentiss jumped out. The sheriff and a few of his deputies followed behind them, carrying flashlights and guns.

"Sure looks like the place," Morgan mumbled as they descended on the wooded area.

The team continued on, looking for some kind of sign that this was definitely the right place. They soon found the evidence that they needed.

Tobias's dead body was less than twenty feet from the small shack with one gunshot wound in his head.

Emily stopped at the body, along with Gideon, while Hotch and Morgan continued on through the shack's open door. This was definitely where JJ had been held.

They found Hankel, but where was JJ? Tobias was obviously the one shot, so JJ had to be okay, right? Judging by the way she had trouble running, Hotch assumed that she had to be close.

She wasn't in the shack, so the two men went around the back. They found a cemetery, but not JJ.

"The sheriff is handling Tobias' body," Prentiss informed as she and Gideon rejoined the two profilers. "Any sign of JJ?"

Morgan shook his head. "No, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. She was injured; she couldn't have gotten far."

As they continued their search, Hotch's phone rang.

"Hotchner," he answered.  
>"Hello, Agent Hotchner, this is Dr. Sarah Moore from Henry Medical Center in Stockbridge, Georgia. There is a patient here that said we could contact you."<p>

-End-

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. (: Tell me what you think?

Oh, I realized that I forgot to acknowledge the people that reviewed last time, sorry!

So, thank you to journey4eva, Carla-Leigh, JJCM, crazyobsession101, Swifty1212, kdzl, foxyfeline, MelxxWhoLuvsYa, Jareau-26, oooLALApaige, keelzz64, LastRefuge, mystery-3675, spk, giacomo's opus, and TessaJareau-Prentiss for reviewing!

Sorry if I missed you!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. Enjoy! (:

Garcia barely heard what Hotch had said, all she focused on was that JJ was all right, in Henry Medical Center. She was still alive. That's all that mattered.

She grabbed Reid and off they went. She'd never driven so fast in her life, but she had to get there. She had to make sure that JJ was really okay.

When they arrived at the hospital, they walked right up to the receptionist, ignoring the protest of the people in front of them.

"I need to know where Jennifer Jareau is," Penelope demanded.  
>"Ma'am, you need to wait. There are other people that need—"<p>

"No, you listen to me. Jennifer Jareau is FBI agent who happens to be my best friend! Now, you tell me what room she is in now or I tangle you up in so much debt that your grandchildren will need loans to cover it, so help me!" Reid smirked.

The woman looked at her in shock. She went to speak, but only sputtered out a few unintelligible words.

Reid, taking pity on the woman experiencing Garcia's wrath, pulled his badge out and showed it to the woman. "We need to know where Jennifer Jareau is located."

"NOW!" Garcia interjected.  
>The woman typed something into the computer quickly. "Room 356. Take the elevator to the third floor and go left."<p>

"Thanks," Reid replied as he followed Garcia, who was already heading toward the elevators.

The elevators opened and the two climbed into it. "Garcia, I don't think you should've scared that woman like that."

"She was holding us up. I need to see JJ."  
>"We might not even be able to see her yet. Or she might be doing some kind of test."<p>

"No, when Hotch was on the phone, he said that the doctor said she was all right. We'll be able to see her."  
>"Garcia, I don't want you to get your hopes up. JJ might be in bad shape-"<p>

"No, Reid. Just stop, okay?"  
>Reid breathed in deeply. "Okay."<p>

The elevator dinged signaling its arrival to their floor. They followed the receptionist's directions and went left. They spotted JJ's door and entered.

When they entered the room, she was lying in the bed unconscious. Both of her arms were bandaged and so were her feet. The cross was still extremely visible on her forehead.

She had stitches on her lower lip.

Garcia slowly walked over to her injured friend and smoothed JJ's hair away from her face. "Oh, Jayje…" she whispered, tears escaping her eyes.

Reid walked to Garcia's side. He slowly reached his hand to JJ's and took hers in his.

They stood there looking at their friend until they heard footsteps coming into the room. They looked up and saw a woman in blue-green scrubs and a white lab jacket looking at a clipboard.

"Are you her doctor?" Garcia squeaked.  
>The woman looked up from the clipboard, a bit startled by their presence. "Yes, I'm Sarah Moore, Jennifer's doctor."<p>

"JJ," Reid corrected in a whisper.  
>"I'm sorry, but could you tell me what is your relation to Jen—I mean JJ."<p>

"She's my best friend," Garcia answered with tears in her eyes. "Is she going to be okay?"  
>"I'm sorry, but I have to wait for an Agent Hotchner before I can release any information."<p>

"Please," Garcia pleaded. "She's—she's my best friend. I need, I need to know. _Please._"  
>Dr. Moore sighed and glanced at JJ before turning to look at Garcia.<p>

"She's been through some trauma. We aren't really sure what happened. She was barely conscious when a man brought her in. She gave me her name before she fell asleep, and when a deputy saw her, he gave me Agent Hotchner's name and number, but that's all." She paused and glanced back at JJ.

"She has several second degree burns on her right arm, and it appears that she was bitten by a dog on her left arm. We've stitched it and given her the first of a series of rabies shots." She paused once again when Garcia whimpered, "oh god."

"She was beaten up pretty badly and has a concussion. She also has stitches in her lower lip. It looks as if she bit through it. The Navicular and Cuboid bones in her right foot were broken. Both of her feet also need several catgut stitches that will be absorbed on their own."

"Is that all?" Reid asked from his position by JJ's bedside.  
>"Yes, that's all. We don't know how she sustained any of these injuries, but Agent Hotchner said something about speaking to me when he arrives."<p>

"She was abducted by a man and tortured. He sent video feed of it to our team. She's a member of Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI," Garcia explained as her voice cracked.

"Oh," Dr. Moore stated lamely. "The police were notified as soon as she came in here. The man that brought her in said he found her on the road not too far from Fort Bend. Then I contacted Agent Hotchner and he said that he would be here, but it would be a little bit."

Garcia nodded. "He'll be here soon. He called me to come here."  
>"All right. I've just got to check a few things, but then I'll leave. She's been out for a while. I think she'll be up soon, but don't stress her too much."<p>

Garcia nodded. "Of course."

By the time Dr. Moore had finished checking all of JJ's vitals and IV, the rest of the team had arrived, and Hotch had immediately left to talk with Dr. Moore and the sheriff.

-Break-

JJ groaned as she stirred in the hospital bed.  
>"Jayje," Garcia said as she hugged JJ, only slightly squishing the blonde's shoulders.<p>

"I'll go get the doctor," Gideon volunteered.

"Hmm," she slurred as tried to sit up and put a hand to her head. "M' head hurtsss."  
>"You have a concussion," Reid stated as he watched JJ squeeze her eyes shut. "It's very common to have a headache."<p>

"Hmm," she mumbled again. "D'ya hear that?"  
>"Hear what?" Prentiss asked leaning closer to JJ's bedside.<p>

"Ringin'. Y'don' hear it?"  
>"No," Reid replied finally letting go of JJ's hand. "But it's also common to hear ringing."<p>

"Oh."  
>"Yeah," Reid responded. "How are you feeling? Besides your head of course."<p>

"Sore, but 'll be 'kay," JJ paused then looked at Spencer as if she was finally recognizing who he was. "'Pence! Y' are 'kay."

Spencer flashed a small, warm smile. "Yeah, JJ. I'm okay. I'm really glad that you're okay, though."  
>JJ smiled back at him.<p>

The room descended into a brief silence before Hotch asked, "JJ, what happened after you hit Hankel with the wood?"

She squeezed her eyes shut again. "Uh…um, 'fter I hit 'im with the wood, I… I, I ran, 'nd I thought he was knocked out, but he followed me. He hit me, 'nd we fought a little. I took the gun 'fter I fell by 'im, so I shot 'im."

"You have one hell of a shot," Morgan interjected. "Even when you were hurt, you nailed him in the head."  
>JJ smirked slightly. "'Fter I shot 'im I ran. I, I tried so hard to get to get near the 'treet, but my feet hurt so bad 'nd I was so tired…"<p>

"That's perfectly fine, Jayje. No one can find anything wrong with that," Emily soothed.  
>"I sat down 'nd I think I fell 'sleep. Some guy came 'nd helped me. He took me to the 'ospital."<p>

"JJ," Dr. Moore greeted as she came into the room with Gideon. "I'm glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?"  
>"'M sore, but 'kay.," JJ repeated, but her behavior said otherwise as she closed her eyes and grabbed her head once again.<p>

"Do you have a headache?" Dr. Moore asked gently and JJ nodded. "Unfortunately that's common with a concussion and can last for a couple of days. The slurring, however, should stop within the next twenty four hours."

""Nd the ringin'?"  
>"That should go away with the slurring, but it can last a bit longer," Dr. Moore responded as she wrote something down on JJ's chart. "I'll have the nurse bring you in a painkiller for your head."<p>

"Than's," JJ replied as she opened her eyes once again. Dr. Moore nodded and left.

-Break-

The room was quiet and dark when the nurse came in to give JJ the last dose of the painkiller for the night. The only sounds came from the drone of the TV on low volume and Garcia's light snoring from the chair next to JJ's bed.

JJ sat reclined in her bed, her head tilted in the direction of Reid as he quietly read a book that Morgan had bought on his mission assigned by Garcia to "make JJ comfortable."

She smiled as she remembered how he and Garcia argued with the attending nurse why they weren't going to leave. They all would've stayed, but it was hard enough just to convince her to allow two of them. She loved that about her team, their loyalty and protectiveness. Even Emily, who was still new to their little family, was committed to the team.

After watching him read for a few minutes, JJ spoke. "So, Reid, wha' happened to ya'? I heard a shot, but I never saw y'again."  
>"After we split up," Reid began, but turned his vision to ground. He bit his cheek, unable to continue.<p>

"Hey, hey," JJ said lifting his face with her right hand. She grimaced a little from the movement, which did not go unnoticed. "It wasn't yr fault, 'kay? I coulda said no."

He finally met her eyes and took hold of her hand. His gaze showed nothing but guilt and sincerity. "I am so sorry, JJ. I should have never even suggested splitting up."  
>"'Pencer, listen t'me. It. Wasn't. Yr. Fault. We didn't know wha' he was capable of. It wasn't yr fault."<p>

He still didn't look like he completely believed her, but didn't argue. "After we," he gulped unconsciously, "spilt up, I saw him running through the cornfield. I followed him and he got into an argument with who I thought was his dad then… But anyway, I heard you shoot something and yell for me, so I ran toward the barn. He got to the end of the field before me and punched me. He started arguing with himself, and that's when I realized he had dissociative identity disorder. He shot me in the shoulder and then ran off. I passed out not too long after that."

"Oh, 'Pence," JJ whispered. "'M sorry."  
>"You're sorry? What do you have to be sorry for? I was the one who split us up. It should've been me in your place. I would give anything to be able to fix everything that he did to you."<p>

"'Pencer, 'm serious. It wasn't yr fault. 'M glad it was me tha' he took 'nd not you."  
>"JJ—"<p>

"No, 'Pence," she said as she tried unsuccessfully stifle a yawn. "'M serious. 'M glad tha' he took me 'nd not you."  
>Reid smiled softly once again. "How about you get some sleep? We can talk in the morning."<p>

JJ bit the inside of her cheek, trying to decide if she should just drop the subject now, knowing that he was still struggling with unnecessary guilt. She nodded.

"'Kay, but it's not yr fault," she said as she snuggled closer to the pillow, trying to get comfortable.

Reid chuckled quietly at how stubborn she could be as he tried to find a position on the chair comfortable enough for himself.

"'Pence," JJ murmured, closing her eyes.  
>"Yeah, JJ?"<p>

"Love you."  
>He smiled again. "I love you too, JJ."<p>

-End-

Gasp! An update on time? Really? I know, I'm shocked too, but in my efforts to procrastinate my two major projects that were due today, I ended up writing this chapter fairly easy. Which brings me to another thing, I have a dilemma. So I was going to go ahead and write the next chapter, but I couldn't decide where to start it. Should I have it begin with JJ at the hospital and the team visiting her, or her coming home? Let me know. (:

Oh, and the "I love you's" at the end of the chapter don't really have any romantic feelings yet. It's kinda just like when you tell your best friend that you love them.

Thanks for reading! And thanks to Ailsa luke, Swifty1212, foxyfeline, crazyobsession101, and MelxxWhoLuvsya for reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

Spencer Reid's dreamless sleep was interrupted less than twenty minutes after it began. He opened his eyes groggily and saw JJ tossing and turning in her bed, mumbling in her sleep. Garcia was already alert, sitting on JJ's bed with her hand gently placed on JJ's back.

"Is she okay?" Reid asked, leaning forward in his seat.  
>"I don't know. I think she's having a nightmare," Garcia responded with a desperate look as JJ whimpered. "Should we wake her up?"<p>

"I don't think so. If you wake a person up in the middle of a nightmare, they're more likely to remember it in the morning, but that's not to say that she won't wake up on her own. She might end up remembering it if we don't wake her up anyway…"

"So should we wake her up?"  
>"I—I don't think so," Reid replied. "I don't want her to have to remember it tomorrow, but there's obviously a chance that she might remember it anyway."<p>

"She's going to remember it anyway," Garcia concluded, her hand rubbing comforting circles on JJ's back. "She's never going to forget what happened to her. I just don't want her to have to suffer anymore."  
>"Then, yeah. Let's wake her—"<p>

Reid's statement was cut off by JJ's scream as she shot up, panting. She looked around the room frantically, running her hands over her stomach and legs.

"JJ. JJ, its Garcia and Reid," Garcia tried to console her. "You're in the hospital; you're okay." She reached out to touch JJ's arm, but the younger woman flinched away from her touch. Garcia tried to not let it bother her.

"JJ, its Reid. You're fine. Tobias doesn't have you anymore," Reid tried as JJ's eyes began to look less panicked. "You're in Henry Medical Center in Georgia. He doesn't have you anymore." JJ's hands stopped roaming over her own body.

"You're okay, Jayje," Garcia said, effectively getting JJ to look at her.  
>"I'm okay?"<p>

"You're okay," Penelope reassured her friend as her teary eyes glanced at Reid. Penelope reached out to touch the liaison again, but this time JJ didn't flinch away. Instead she slowly glanced between her two friends with realization.

She sighed tiredly and rubbed a hand over her face. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up and cause you to worry."

"It's okay, Jayje," Garcia said as she began to rub JJ's shoulder comfortingly.  
>"Are you okay?" Reid asked, switching on the light closest to him.<p>

JJ nodded. "I'm fine. I just don't know what happened…"  
>"Do you want to talk about it?" Garcia prodded gently, but JJ shook her head slowly.<br>"No. Go back to sleep, guys. I'm sorry for waking you."

"Don't be silly, pumpkin. We're fine. If you want to talk to us about it, go ahead."  
>"But Reid was only asleep for what..?" She looked at her watch on the bedside table. "Thirty minutes? After such a long couple of days, you guys gotta be tired. I know I'm exhausted."<p>

Reid looked at Garcia, who was silently pleading with him to say something that would get JJ to talk. "Actually talking about a nightmare is shown to help prevent and-"

"I did not have a nightmare," JJ insisted, shifting down into her sheets.  
>"Then what-?" Penelope tried, but JJ cut her off.<br>"I did not have a nightmare," she repeated firmly as Garcia and Reid shared a perplexed look. "I'm sorry that I woke you guys. Now go back to sleep." She reached over and shut off the light.

"JJ," Garcia tried once again, "we could talk about it."  
>"There's nothing to talk about," JJ insisted, her eyes closing in the dark. "I just really want to go back to sleep. Goodnight."<p>

Garcia and Reid both recognized that JJ wasn't ready to talk right then. So instead of pushing her anymore, they both settled into their uncomfortable chairs and eventually drifted off to sleep.

However, JJ laid in her bed staring at the ceiling, unable to go back to sleep.

-Break-

The next morning, Garcia woke up at 7 o'clock sharp, as usual. She was surprised to find that JJ was already awake, propped up in bed looking through her cell phone. Typical Jayje.

"Hey, angelfish, what are you doing awake already? I thought you'd be snoozing all day after how you were so tired last night."  
>JJ smiled just a bit nervously, hoping that Garcia wouldn't see that she was lying. "Nope, you know me. Gotta get up; gotta be ready."<p>

"Well, you've gotta get your rest, sweetie. Rest and relaxation are the fastest ways to heal, and the fastest ways to get back to Quantico," Garcia said with a cheery smile that JJ knew that she could never pull off if she'd just woken up.

JJ tried to smile. "I know, Pen. It's just going to be hard for me to be out of commission for so long. The doctor said I wasn't even allowed to walk without crutches until my stitches are out, preferably until my foot is completely healed. That could take six to eight weeks!"  
>Penelope smirked. "Jayje, you and I both know that you'll be calling Hotch after the first week for desk duty at least."<p>

"I was going to hold out until the second week at least. Now, shush. You're gonna wake Spence."  
>Garcia smirked. "Okay, gorgeous. Are you hungry? I could get us something to eat."<p>

JJ scrunched her face. "Hospital food? No thank you."  
>Penelope tried to stifle a chuckle. "Don't bet on it. I wouldn't put any of that in my mouth; why would I expect you to eat it? I could run somewhere and get breakfast, even pick up something for the good doctor to eat when he wakes up."<p>

JJ tried to smile. "I'm not hungry right now, but if you want you could go get something for you and Reid to eat."

"Jayje, when was the last time you ate? I'm talking really ate a meal, not just some Jell-o or something."  
>"When do we ever eat a real meal when we're on a case?"<p>

"But we're not on a case anymore and you need to eat. I want you to be happy and healthy enough to leave here as soon as possible."

JJ forced a smile and nodded. "You're right, Pen. Just get me whatever, okay?"  
>Penelope smiled as she stood up and grabbed her purse. "Okay. I'll only be gone for about a half hour. If you need anything wake up the junior G-man over there."<p>

JJ nodded. "And if you think of anything else you want or need while I'm out, don't hesitate to call."

"Okay, Pen. Thanks."  
>"It is my wish to serve you," Penelope bowed slightly as she left and JJ smiled for real this time.<p>

-Line Break—

During the first five days, the team made certain that JJ got a visitor every day. Reid and Garcia refused to move from her side, though, until they were forced. On the sixth day that JJ was in the hospital, the entire team came to visit.

"Well, JJ," Dr. Moore said as she came into her hospital room. "You certainly have a lot of people that care for you. How are you feeling today?"

JJ smiled. "I'm feeling good. Do you think I'll be able to leave soon?"

"Well, the stitches in your feet have dissolved, and you're other stitches are healing nicely. How are your headaches?"

"They're okay. I still get them, just not as often."  
>"Right, well, I say you might be able to leave as early as tomorrow," Dr. Moore informed, taking note of the dark circles forming under JJ's eyes. Garcia squealed and hugged JJ.<p>

"—But," Dr. Moore continued and the other occupants in the room frowned, "You're going to have to make an appointment with your primary physician as soon as possible. And then you'll need continue to follow up with them so you can have your stitches removed and your burns checked. I also want you to stay off of your feet as often as possible; you're Cuboid and Navicular bones are not fully healed yet. And you also need lots and lots of rest," she added with a pointed look at JJ.

JJ nodded, but Garcia frowned. "She's not fully healed yet?"  
>"Garcia," JJ hissed.<p>

Dr. Moore smiled. "Well, her not all of her injuries are fully healed, but with rest and follow up treatments, she should be just fine."  
>"Shouldn't she stay if she isn't healed yet? What if something goes wrong?"<p>

"Well, I figured that after JJ's time here, you'd all want to return to Quantico as soon as possible."  
>Garcia opened her mouth to reply, but JJ covered her mouth with her hand. "We do," she insisted.<p>

Dr. Moore chuckled. "Miss Garcia, I assure you that if JJ follows up with her doctor, she will be fine."  
>Garcia's eyes narrowed. "She better, doc. 'Cause I can find you. Anytime."<p>

The rest of the team laughed with Dr. Moore. Garcia, however, didn't find it funny. "I'm serious."

-Line Break—

The next day, Dr. Moore was surprised when she found JJ alone when she came in to make one last check up. She frowned upon seeing JJ awake.

"JJ, you're awake. I thought I told you to rest."  
>"I did. I mean, I am. I don't have to be asleep to be resting, do I?"<p>

"No, but every time I come in here, you're awake."  
>"I'm just very alert. Did you bring the release papers?" she asked with a forced smile.<p>

"Not quite yet. I wasn't expecting you to be up this early, and I'd prefer if one of your friends were here to release you to."

JJ furrowed her brow. "So I can't be released until one of my friends come get me?"  
>"Well, you technically can, but you can't drive right now, and walking or standing for long periods of time will cause extreme discomfort. I'm surprised that Agent Reid or Ms. Garcia isn't here with you now."<p>

JJ smirked. "I sent them back to the hotel last night. They deserved a night away from this hospital."

"No offense," she added after a thought.  
>Dr. Moore smiled. "None taken. It's not good to spend so much unnecessary time at hospitals. So, can one of your friends pick you up?"<p>

"I'm sure one of them will."

-Line Break—

"Oh, thank god!" JJ shouted as Morgan, Reid, Garcia, and Prentiss filed into the hospital room for one last time. "I thought I was going to be here all day!"

Garcia gave her a hug and chuckled. "Jayje, it's only 8:30."  
>"It feels like I've been in here all day. Now, c'mon," JJ said as she lifted her legs to the side of the bed, "I can't wait to go home."<p>

"Hey, hold on," Prentiss said from her place near the door. "Don't you need to sign the release papers and get instructions on after care?"

"Already ahead of you," she grinned holding up her discharge papers, and standing up. She winced immediately and fell ungracefully back onto the bed.

"See. That's why the wheel chair's here," Morgan teased as he brought the wheel chair closer to her and eased her down into it. "Reid, grab the crutches. We have to meet Hotch and Gideon at the jet."

-End—

**A/N:** Hey, guys. I'm so terribly sorry that I haven't updated this in such a long time. I had some family problems, and then exams and vacation made it too hard to sit and write. I hope that my inspiration for this story lasts though and I hope to have another chapter ready by next week. Thanks to all of those who reviewed.

Reviews are the best motivation!


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